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His latest star turn: Rebuilding a nation

Sean Penn shares Haiti recovery mission at Lowell forum

By Pete McQuaid, pmcquaid@lowellsun.com

Updated:
02/27/2013 11:44:14 AM EST

Sean Penn speaks about his earthquake-relief work at Lowell Memorial Auditorium Tuesday, joined by fellow panel members Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, second from right, and Jarrett Barrios, CEO of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts. Paula Dias, moderator of the Middlesex Community College forum, looks on. SUN / DAVID H. BROW

According to Sean Penn, legend has it that when earthquake-recovery efforts slowed in Haiti, a Haitian government official gave a tongue-in-cheek suggestion to President Michael Martelly. He reasoned that since the United States helped rebuild Japan and Germany after World War II, the still-suffering Haiti had one solution: Declare war on the United States.

"And then Martelly said, 'With our luck, we'd win,' " said Penn.

The resilience of Haiti was a recurring theme Tuesday afternoon at Lowell Memorial Auditorium, where the Academy Award-winning actor participated in a panel discussion called "Disaster Relief in Haiti and Beyond" with Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, commander of Joint Task Force Haiti, and Jarrett Barrios, CEO of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts.

The talk, organized by Middlesex Community College's Center for Leadership and Engagement, focused on coming up with better solutions for collaboration between governments, nongovernmental organizations and civilians during disaster recovery.

Julie Quertenmont, president of the MCC International Club, presented Penn with a check for $3,000 for the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which Penn co-founded after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake decimated Haiti in January 2010. MCC student clubs raised $1,500, which the MCC Foundation then matched.

"I think the message is that our students come from all over the world," said MCC President Carole Cowan. "And when tragedy happens, as global citizens, it's important how we respond.

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The quake caused 316,000 deaths, displaced 1.8 million residents and destroyed a majority of the already-thin infrastructure in Haiti's major cities such as its capital, Port-au-Prince.

"It was evident immediately that we had just suffered a catastrophic event that would have a devastating impact," said Keen, who was stationed in Haiti when the quake hit.

Penn, who had previously visited New Orleans to aid the recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, latched onto a new cause after he found himself home alone with a lot of free time after his divorce from actress Robin Wright.

"I had been on a bender for a few days," said Penn, who remembers watching the early images of the earthquake's destruction on CNN. "There were reports of amputations being done without IV pain medications. My son had had a traumatic brain injury (around that time), so I had become grateful for the medical use of morphine."

Penn knew where he was needed, but he couldn't do it alone.

"I often say that actors in Los Angeles know where to find narcotics," said Penn, "but not bulk narcotics."

Under the guidance of Dr. Paul Farmer, who co-founded Partners in Health in Haiti, Penn and other members of J/P HRO traveled to Haiti to dispatch pain medication to the working hospitals there. Penn planned on staying for two weeks, but after a few days he saw a 35,000-person tent camp at a golf course in Port-au-Prince. The Haitian government, which was in charge of the camp, invited J/P HRO to live there and help -- as long as they remembered who was still in charge.

"They told us as long as we were effective, we could stay," said Penn.

J/P HRO became one of the foremost nongovernmental organizations working in Haiti during the recovery period, assisting with everything from medical services to rubble cleanup. In 2012, Penn was named ambassador-at-large for Haiti for his relief efforts, the first time any non-Haitian citizen has held that title.

But Penn and Keen said the Haitian people deserve most of the credit. Keen said the U.S. military no longer has a mission in Haiti and that it remains there at the behest of the Haitian government, much like the American Red Cross. Penn said the key is to work as closely as possible with the government officials in the affected country, since they're the ones who are closest to the action and who recognize where money needs to be allocated.

He thinks that betting on the potential of Haiti, which was already an extremely poor country before the earthquake, is the only way the world will help Haiti to sustain itself completely. A lot of progress has been made in three years, said Penn, but there's still more work to be done.

"There's the rebuilding of Haiti, and then there will be the 'first building' of Haiti," said Penn. "I believe that within 15 years from now, the people there will be having a much safer experience."

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